Live Longer - Join a Book Club

Some say joining a book club might even help you live longer. A University of Queensland study found that belonging to social groups like book clubs reduces the risk of premature death and fosters a better quality of life, especially in retirement. Scribd.com even lists longevity as the top reason to join. Personally, I think the once-a-month socializing is a stretch when it comes to life expectancy.

From Sixty and Me - You Are Never Too Old to Join a Book Club

My reason is simpler: I love getting together with friends and acquaintances and hearing everyone’s take on a book.

I belong to 2.5 book clubs (the “.5” being one I attend only half the time). I was always a reader, but book clubs have expanded my horizons. Genres I’d never have touched—like historical fiction—have become favorites. As the StartsAtEight blog puts it, “Historical Fiction is Learning History through Literature.” I never cared much for memorizing dates, but novels like Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth (not a book club pick, just too long for most) kept me up all night reading.

Sometimes a book you dread turns out to be a gem. When my club picked Where the Crawdads Sing, I groaned. A swamp girl in North Carolina? Not my thing. Yet Kya’s story pulled me in, and I couldn’t put it down.

More recently, our group read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, featuring a sharp-witted octopus named Marcellus who “writes” some of the chapters. When I described it to a neighbor, he quipped, “Do they run off and get married?” You’ll have to read it to find out.

Occasionally, we branch out. With just three of us left after the snowbirds migrated north, I picked a more scholarly read—Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey, about Michelangelo sculpting David and Leonardo painting the Mona Lisa. The group loved it. Amusingly, just weeks later, a Florida principal was pressured to resign after showing her students an image of Michelangelo’s David. (Florence’s mayor invited her to Italy in solidarity.) Even centuries later, art continues to stir controversy.

Book clubs come in all flavors: sci-fi, nonfiction, romance, mystery, or—as in our snowbird club—anything goes. My alumni group hosts an online “Well-Being Book Club.” Our current pick, The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, feels especially fitting.

Some clubs keep it simple with discussion only, while others add wine, hors d’oeuvres, or even themed potlucks. Our snowbird club lets the husbands join afterward for happy hour. Whether it's food or no food, the heart of a book club is lively conversation and respect for different perspectives.

And let’s not forget formats. Some swear by the feel of a hardcover. I’m devoted to eBooks—lighter, no reading light needed, and they never lose my place when I fall asleep. (Paperbacks, on the other hand, end up looking like they survived a hurricane.) Best of all, my iPad can hold 125,000 books without weighing me down. Try fitting that many hardcovers into your purse.

In the end, book clubs are about more than books. They open new worlds, spark surprising discoveries, and deepen friendships. And while I can’t promise they’ll make you live longer, they’ll certainly make life richer.

References

1. Clayton Hickman, Between Fact and Fable: Historical Fiction or Nonfictional Novel?, Lithhub.com, May 31, 2022.

2. Natalie Neysa Alund, Is the David statue porn? Come see yourself, Italian museum tells Florida school board, USAToday.com, March 27, 2023.

3. Google ‘discussion notes’ and the book name to find book club discussion questions or create your own. For example, here are the results of googling ‘discussion notes remarkably bright creatures.’

4. John Brownlee, An iPad filled with apps weighs more than one with nothing installed, cultofmac.com, October 8, 2014

5. To join find a book club, Google ‘ clubs near me’ or use Meetup.com and search for book which can point you to hundreds of online book clubs. To form your own book club, Google ‘start a book club.’